The Pomera is almost the perfect portable typing device: A four inch grayscale display, a fold-out, full-sized keyboard, twenty hours of battery life from a couple of AAAs, a CR2 coin-sized battery backup, and a two-second boot time.
The only connectivity is via USB (for transfer to and from a PC -- also possible via SD card) so there can be no distractions, and the whole thing folds up into a neat, pocket-sized pack and comes with a leather carrying case
So, what's the problem? It costs ¥27,300 or $270. Even BoingBoing Gadgets' John Brownlee, who has bought an Airport Express for every room in his luxury Berlin bachelor pad (and the bachelor part is literal -- no girl has ever visited), deems this expensive.
And he's right. There's a definite need for gadgets like this, but they need to be cheap because the competition is, in every case, the subsidized cell phone. That's a shame, because theses niche products are far from gimmicks. The saddest part, though, is low expectation of the vendor (the splendidly named "King Jim"). The sales forecast for the entire first year? Just 30,000 units.
Product page [King Jim via BBG]
